Combining solution processable nanomaterials with on-chip thin-film opto-electronics offers a viable path towards much desired advanced light sources, using preferentially stimulated light emission for spectral purity and beam shaping. A globally recognized challenge, electrical excitation of such devices, a premise for their ultimate miniaturization, is absent today as it needs drastic improvements on both key aspects of such challenging devices: the optical materials, providing net amplification, fall short due to their 0D nanoscale geometry, and the electrical device stack, providing light guiding and carrier injection, is inefficient and ill-understood. Only by using a concerted effort between nano-materials synthesis - to tune the materials at the atomic level in an improved 2D geometry - , advanced optical spectroscopy - to scrutinize their light amplification characteristics (and the link to their structure)- , and thin film nano-photonic engineering, combined with in-situ spectroscopy, - to understand and control carrier injection - , can the required progress be made. Such a multi-faceted approach requires the strength of two leading groups in the field, Peking University (2D materials synthesis, electrical devices) and Ghent University (femtosecond spectroscopy, nanophotonics). Together, they will tackle the challenge of the first electrically pumped nanocrystal laser diode, but also attain a thorough understanding of its working principles and limitations.